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brucedownunder2
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Joined: 14/09/2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 1548

Posted: 01:57am 25 Jul 2021

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Hi guys ,

I know,,, I should know the answer to this problem ,, but I'll run it along to you all ,anyhow.

We, start filling the machine, it sounds perfect, then around a couple or more minutes, stops. The start button is flashing ,it's certainly not filled with water. So we press the start , and it continues to fill again. then minutes later stops ,and we have to start again .

We do this maybe 3-4 times and she is filled and starts as normal wash cycle...

I ,m thinking it's something to do with the water level sensor, plastic air tube ,or whatever ???

Any Clues ???

Maybe I have to take the top off , find this tube and make sure it's free of lint ,etc. Or, do you think it will be something more technical???

Thanks ,

Bruce

Bushboy

Davo99
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Joined: 03/06/2019
Location: Australia
Posts: 1578

Posted: 03:20am 25 Jul 2021

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brucedownunder2 said
Maybe I have to take the top off , find this tube and make sure it's free of lint ,etc. Or, do you think it will be something more technical???

I had a bit to do with these things some years back repairing the one we had and the neighbours several.
That would be the first thing I'd look at. That said, If it had a leak or something, I'd expect the thing to over not under fill so maybe the blockage is on the " breather " side?

I don't know about now but on machines that went back -maybe- 20 years, maybe 15, a lot of problems simply blew the snot out the boards. A blocked water pump was one of them. Get lint build-up or one of those ladies Stocking sock type things and stall it and blew the board.

Local washing machine place sold them exchange for about half the price of a new machine and they were about average for the few places you could get them and emphasised NO warranty.

The fill Sensor is just a sensitive sealed bladder type devise that the level switch Biases . It has a clear tube running from the wash bowl up to it held on with a couple of spring clips.
There really isn't much to the machines, or at least there wasn't when they still had mechanical switches. The board does about 90% of the work and unless they have changed them, they weren't worth replacing.

We bought a mechanical simpson after the couple of F&P's that died in quick succession and only replaced that 2 years ago. The machine was dated 20 Yo and we'd bought it about 10 Years before used. The repair guy told me the new ones were exactly the same mechanicals only the controls had gone to electronic and weren't as good. Sure enough when we got the new one, the agitator and everything was a perfect fit So I believe the motors and gearboxes have not changed.

I used one of these F&P fill sensors to activate the water injection on my truck when the turbo hit boost. Incredibly sensitive and too much so for the job. Ended up splicing a fish tank air valve in the line so I could bleed off the pressure till it got up to the 3 Lbs I wanted it to kick in. Worked well then.

Haxby

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Joined: 07/07/2008
Location: Australia
Posts: 423

Posted: 03:20am 25 Jul 2021

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How is the water pressure where you are?

Maybe it's a timeout safety feature where the machine thinks it should be full by some elapsed time.

Davo99
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Joined: 03/06/2019
Location: Australia
Posts: 1578

Posted: 03:21am 25 Jul 2021

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Thinking of it, other thing it could be would be a water solenoid.
They pull back against the water pressure so maybe if the coil gets weak or heats up, it could drop prematurely. Maybe try turning the tap down much slower to see if it makes a difference.

brucedownunder2
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Joined: 14/09/2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 1548

Posted: 05:06am 25 Jul 2021

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Thanks guys .

I'm on my own tank water and a pressure pump . Don't know what I'd do about the pump pressure, they don,t seem to have any means of adjustment ???.

I'l try the tap adjustment first.

Can I get to the air tube for cleaning and it's associated switch ,easily -like remove the top and check with a torch ,Etc???.

OK, blowing a gale up here, back to stacking firewood to keep the house warm .

Thanks,

Bruce

Bushboy

Godoh
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Joined: 26/09/2020
Location: Australia
Posts: 458

Posted: 08:16am 25 Jul 2021

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Hi Bruce, take the hoses off the solenoids and see if the filters on the inlet pipes are clear. It may be that the flow of water is too low and the machine shuts down because of that.
Other than that have a look at the water inflow while it is filling. If the solenoid valve is dying the inflow will stop before the machine cuts off.
I had a few of the older F&P machines, I used to raid machines at the tip for new boards and use them. They seemed to come in different colours for different models but they could be tricked into working most of the time.
Good luck
Pete

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